The Selected Poems of Du Fu

by Du Fu, Burton Watson (Translator)

Du Fu (712–777) has been called China's greatest poet, and some call him the greatest nonepic, nondramatic poet whose writings survive in any language. Du Fu excelled in a great variety of poetic forms, showing a richness of language ranging from elegant to colloquial, from allusive to direct. His impressive breadth of subject matter includes intimate personal detail as well as a great deal of historical information—which earned him the epithet poet-historian. Some 1,400 of Du Fu's poems survive today, his fame resting on about one hundred that have been widely admired over the centuries. Preeminent translator Burton Watson has selected 127 poems, including those for which Du Fu is best remembered and lesser-known works.

Genres: Poetry, China, History

128 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Du Fu (Chinese: 杜甫, 712–770) was one of China's greatest poets and a central figure in the literary tradition of the Tang dynasty, often hailed as the "Poet Sage" (詩聖) for his moral integrity and the depth of his work. His poetry, numbering over 1,400 surviving pieces, captures the essence of his turbulent era, blending historical insight, personal struggle, and a deep concern for humanity.
Born into a scholarly family, Du Fu was well-educated in the Confucian classics and aspired to a government career. However, his attempts to gain a stable official position were largely unsuccessful. He experienced firsthand the chaos of the An Lushan Rebellion (755–763), which devastated the Tang empire, displacing millions and leading to widespread suffering. These events profoundly shaped his poetry, turning his work into a powerful chronicle of war, political corruption, and the hardships faced by common people.
Unlike his contemporary Li Bai, whose poetry often embraced spontaneity and romanticism, Du Fu’s verse is marked by realism, technical precision, and a strong sense of moral duty. His ability to fuse personal emotion with historical narrative made his work deeply moving and enduring. Themes of exile, poverty, and loyalty pervade his later poetry, as he spent much of his life wandering in hardship, struggling with illness and poverty.
Though largely unrecognized in his lifetime, Du Fu's influence grew over the centuries. Later generations admired his ability to elevate poetry into a form of social commentary, and he became a defining figure in classical Chinese literature. Today, his works continue to be studied and celebrated, both in China and worldwide, for their timeless wisdom, humanistic perspective, and artistic brilliance.

Reviews

[Chant · Rating 5 out of 5]

Here is one my personal favorites from this selection, the title of this poem is called New Moon.

Frail rays of the crescent newly risen,
slanting beams only a fraction of the full circle,
barely lifted above the old fort,
already hidden in slivers of evening cloud.
Stars of the River of Heaven keep their hue unchanged,
barrier mountains, untouched, cold as before.
In the courtyard white dew forms,
moisture imperceptibly drenching the
chrysanthemums.

Need I say more?

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Damn! Du Fu can write some poetry. Simple language ripples with feeling - the strongest being what he doesn't say but only alludes to; these be some of the oldest and best poems of loneliness and despair and awe at the beauty all around us.

[Matt Ely · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like most poetry, it deserves to be read slowly, a few at a time. Not every piece hits home, of course, as I can only relate to an 8th century Chinese aristocrat surviving a civil war to so certain a degree. That being said, I could relate much better than I'd thought. The volume clearly evokes the simple language of melancholy that bridges the gap in experience. Since poetry is so hard to describe out of context, especially for a novice like me, I'll end by simply giving the author his due and including a quote from the second half of poem 62:

"Here in the mountains a scholar, friend from old times;
all our talk is of the past, painful to recall.
Ah-ah, song of the seventh-- hush, leave off singing!
Look up at the heavens as the bright sun hurries by."

[Jim Coughenour · Rating 5 out of 5]

This 8th century Chinese poet feels completely contemporary. Amazing, to drift into his most intimate reflections, as close as your own but wiser. Burton's unpretentious translation is superb.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Du Fu wrote so prolifically, it is like reading an autobiography to work through his poetry. His work documents the mundane events of his daily life, extols his views, and records his travels as a refugee in war torn China. Yet out of despair and the ordinary, his words give rise to the unexpected, the holy and the extraordinary.
This e-books main drawback is its layout and the selective nature of the commentary offered by editors.

[Raven]

"Yang Guifei, who lived in a palace whose walls were scented with pepper"

"... explains the reference to the bluebird, the traditional bearer of love notes."

"But why heed such talk, let our thoughts grow gloomy?/
While we live and have each other, we'll lift the cup!"

"A silver pick to strum the many-stringed zither,/
a golden fish exchanged for another round of wine./
We'll move as fancy takes us--don't bother to sweep--/
sit wherever we please on the mossy ground."

[Mateusz · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a splendid journey with Du Fu, portraying a humble man from the Tang times, that was torn between longing for home, care for his family, fulfillment of Confucian ideals, and conflict between love of poetry and leading a life of a Chan Buddhist. The elegant way everything is translated, one knows that the originals must have been masterful, yet a token left by Burton Watson is sufficient to gaze into the poet's life. Du Fu complained that he has failed to be of political significance, and as a person "far from ideal", yet by small signs, he was rewarded and immortalized in poetry; It was a journey of a common man, that nevertheless was highly skilled, a master in poetry; How many others whose stories unwritten in such a great way of his times - Dragons only know. Reading also Chuang Tzu in Watson's translation - was not Du Fu a "true man", that in honest manner traversed his authentic genii, or as the Chinese call it - Hsing - human nature.

"Sleepless, I listen for the sound of bronze locks,
in the wind imagine I hear jeweled horse bells.
I’ve sealed papers to present to the Throne at dawn;
again and again I ask the hour of the night."


For it is a timeless anthem to the starry night. Longing to melt between us and the world, yet separated and contemplated only in this very moment, to be cast away with a whim of circumstance, or a short breath. For some longing is between a place on Earth, transposing it towards the Stars, how solitary a man's, a woman's life. To find home everywhere is to be at home everywhere, not to find home anywhere on Earth, how do we imagine to find oneself at ease with another place beyond it?

[Sameen Shakya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Du Fu is one of the most celebrated poets of Ancient China. Alongside Li Bai, he is thought of as the greatest poet of China. I've long since been interested in Chinese poetry, especially of the Tang Dynasty, so I gave this book a try.

Of course, Du Fu is deserving of all his flowers. Not only is his poetry amazing and amazingly succinct, but they tug at the heart strings even a millennia after they were written. You can really tell how much soul these poets put into their work.

As for the collection, it is a great introduction to Du Fu's poetry. I can't help but congratulate the people who made it.

[MO · Rating 1 out of 5]

I felt his poems have lost some values when translated into English....and one day I hope to read them in Chinese.

[Aditya Raghav · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great